As humiliating as the losses to Colorado State and Sacramento State were, at least Colorado had a chance to win those games in the fourth quarter.

The Buffs -- who were 15-point underdogs to the Bulldogs in Las Vegas -- trailed Fresno State 35-0 after 15 minutes of hell (over an hour in real time).

Fresno State 55, Colorado 7.

Sadly, that was the halftime score. Before the intermission, the Buffs allowed:

The Bulldogs to rack up 516 yards of offense.

Three 1-play scoring drives: a 97-yard touchdown pass, a 94-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Robbie Rouse to rush for 144 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries (16.0 yards per).

Rouse to score a total of four touchdowns (four catches for 42 yards and two TDs).

Derek Carr to complete 17-of-22 passes for 300 yards with five touchdowns and one interception.

Game, set and no match against another non-BCS team before the intermission.

What exactly are the Buffs doing at these closed practices? Apparently, not listening to Jon Embree and his staff.

"We have to figure out what we can do. We're not executing anything that we've worked on," Embree said during his halftime interview with AM 850 KOA. "See if we can make it respectable."

Sorry, 69-14 is not respectable. It's a disgrace.

Embree is lucky his counterpart, Tim DeRuyter,showed respect for and mercy on the dying CU program. Fresno State's first-year head coach did his best to call off the Bulldogs in the first half.

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Of course, DeRuyter's junior varsity still had its way with CU's starters.

So much for that one-game road winning streak the Buffs were bragging about all summer. CU is now 1-25 in its last 26 out-of-state games.

This was as ugly as any game of the Hawk-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named era -- the dubious debut vs. Montana State, the thrashing at Toledo, the collapse at Kansas.

At least those humiliations were spread out over five mostly miserable years. The Buffs did beat Oklahoma, West Virginia and Georgia with that other guy in charge.

I don't care how many sophomores and freshmen are playing right now, opening a season with consecutive losses to a really bad CSU team, a Big Sky team in Boulder, and falling behind 35-0 in the first quarter to Fresno State is unacceptable.

Embree apologized last week after the 30-28 loss to Sacramento State. Mike Bohn should do the honors on Tuesday at Boulder's Harvest House.

I can't wait to hear the questions the fans invited to the weekly press luncheon by the athletic department come up with.

Gary Barnett was fired by Bohn after a 70-3 loss to Texas.

Embarrassing result? Sure.

But at least the Buffs were in the Big 12 championship game. And the Longhorns went on to win the national championship.

"I think it's fair to get some heat after losing to Sacramento State, absolutely," Barnett said on FM 102.3 in Denver last week. "You know the minute that game is over just what is going to happen. You just sort of prepare yourself for it and take it. You take what you deserve and then you go on."

Embree closed his Twitter account last Sunday. Smart move. Cyberspace was a cruel and unusual place to be again on this given Saturday.

Nationally, the Buffs are a punch line.

So, assuming Embree's keys to his Dal Ward Center office still work, what can this coaching staff do to dramatically turn things around?

CU's best chance for a win appears to be next Saturday in the Pac-12 opener at Washington State.

If defensive coordinator Greg Brown isn't able to recreate his Big 12 mastery of Mike Leach, the Buffs could very well finish 0-12.

Arizona State, Washington or Utah at home? Not if the timid team that was bullied at Bulldog Stadium shows up.

Jordan Webb, Connor Wood and Nick Hirschmann all played quarterback for CU against Fresno State.

None of them played well. None of them deserves to start at this point.

There is no speed at receiver, no skill at tight end, no push or protection from the offensive line.

And no resistance on defense.

Christian Powell -- a beacon of light for a drowning program after rushing for 154 yards and three touchdowns against Sacramento State -- can't help the Buffs when they're trailing by seven touchdowns with 7:46 remaining in the second quarter.

CU's best running back also happens to be a fullback.

"Where are the tailbacks?" Bill McCartney, the No. 1 fan of Embree and Eric Bieniemy, wondered aloud on his weekly radio show, which also airs on Denver's ESPN affiliate. "That was against Sacramento State. The big boys are coming."

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